Global Engagement in the Lower School

On-Campus Initiatives Include

Lower School students enjoy visitors from all over the world, including Collegiate travelers. Older students, teachers, and guest speakers frequently visit classrooms JK-4 to share cultural experiences and content related to the Lower School global curriculum.

Students learn Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese during their years in the Lower School. During the exploratory years of JK-2, teachers have a significant focus on culture as well as spoken language.

Lower School students participate in a Chinese New Year celebration hosted by the Mandarin Chinese Language Department for the whole Collegiate community.

The 4th grade curriculum includes a cultures study each spring, as well as a substantial unit on immigration in the United States in the fall during which many guest speakers are invited to share their family stories.

Partner School Exchanges Include

Collegiate's International Emerging Leaders Conference brings 45 high school age students to the Lower School for a day each fall, to participate in a town meeting, followed by individual class visits. The day ends with our Cultural Fair and Performance for 3rd and 4th Grade families.

Spanish classes have a pen-pal letter writing program with our partner schools in Mexico and Spain.

Participants in the International Emerging Leaders: Asia program from our partner school in China spend the day with our first grade students each Spring in their Mandarin Chinese language classes, doing activities together and learning about life in China.

Partner Schools

List of 6 items.

China

Collegiate's first partnership in China was created in 2006 with Changzhou Senior High School, an elite public school in the city of Changzhou in Jiangsu Province. Collegiate formed a second partnership in 2007 with a private school in the city of Yangzhou, also in Jiangsu Province: Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School of Yangzhou.

Recognizing the increasing importance of China in the 21st century, Collegiate has developed programs that offer students a grounded understanding of Chinese culture and language. Mandarin Chinese is taught to all first grade students in the Lower School, and also extends into the Middle and Upper Schools.

We collaborate with these partners on various grade levels through technology, such as video conferencing to further direct communication between students at both school. We also sponsor exchange visits for both students and faculty throughout the year, learning more about each other's culture, language, and philosophy of school leadership and administration. We had an exchange student from Yangzhou in 2007 and in 2013, and one from Changzhou through the 2011-2012 school year.

Our partner schools in China send delegations of students to participate in our International Emerging Leaders Conference, and Collegiate students visit both schools every summer of a school trip.

Beginning in 2014, Collegiate began an intersive collaboration with BNOFLS at Yangzhou through our International Emerging Leaders: Asia program that involves a semester course connecting the two schools focused on the U.S.-China economic and political relations. The students from each school visit the toher as part of this program.

India

Every year since then, groups of four Collegiate Upper School students and two faculty members have attended the annual Community Development & Leadership Summit (CDLS) held by Modern School in New Delhi. CDLS is an international conference for high school students from around the world, with Collegiate's application process beginning in April of each year.

In Fall 2009, a group from Modern School visited Collegiate, staying with Collegiate host families. A group of Collegiate English teachers, working on a curiculum project to bring Indian literature into the classroom, visited Modern School in India as part of professional growth trip to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2013. The teachers met with their India colleagues at Modern, and exchanged ideas about favorite texts and teaching literature in the contemporary classroom.Furthermore, Modern School annually sends a delegation of students to participate in our International Emerging Leaders Conference.

Mexico

In the summer of 2006, a Collegiate faculty member went to a technology conference at Colegio Carol Baur, located in Mexico City, Mexico, a private school serving students from 2 years of age through high school. A group from Carol Baur came to Collegiate in Spring 2007, and a group from Collegiate went to Carol Baur in January 2008, where a formal exchange program (intercambio) was established between the two schools.

Every year since then, Carol Baur has sent a group of students for an exchange with our Middle School Spanish language program, and Collegiate Middle School students have also visited Mexico City for a reciprocal cultural exchange.

In November 2009, Collegiate attended the first Youth Congress of the Americas, hosted by Carol Baur, a congress that brought together students from South, Central, and North America co-sponsored by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since then, Collegiate students have participated in the school's annual Baur International Model United Nations program in Queretero, Mexico, conferring on issues of global importance, making recommendations for action, while still finding time to visit the school and interact with their students.

In June 2011, a short-term Lower School teacher exchange program was established. The exchange included being partnered with a teacher from Mexico, a 10 day stay at Carol Baur in the home of a faculty member, exchanging ideas about teaching and education, guest teaching in Mexico, and hosting a Mexican teacher during their reciprocal stay at Collegiate. This Lower School teacher exchange took place again in 2012-2013. Lower School students at both schools have maintained an ongoing pen-pal relationship through English and Spanish classes.

Multiple video conferences, both in Middle and Upper School language classes, have also been held to share cultural understanding, as well as writing projects, forming pen-pal relationships.

Furthermore, Carol Baur annually sends a delegation of students to participate in our International Emerging Leaders Conference.

Learn More:

Carol Baur: http://carolbaur.edu.mx/

Morocco

Our partner school in Morocco, George Washington, is located in Casablanca, Morocco.

Since 2012, a group of Upper School students have traveled to Morocco for their Senior Projects, living with host families, practicing their French and Arabic while sightseeing and interacting with children of all ages, while also studying their own individual projects based on their various interests.

Furthermore, George Washington Academy annually sends a delegation of students to participate in our International Emerging Leaders Conference.

Learn More:

George Washington Academy: http://www.gwa.ac.ma/

South Africa

Our partner school in South Africa, Lebone II College of the Royal Bafokeng, is located in Phokeng, South Africa.

Spain

In June 2011, a group of Upper School Spanish students traveled to Spain, living with host families from our partner school, immersing themselves in the language and culture, and a separate group went in June 2012 and March 2014, and a group of students from Alminar visited Collegiate in the spring of 2013. These annual exchange opportunities ensure strong relationships between our two schools as well as provide a capstone language experience for many Collegiate seniors.

Lower School students at both schools have maintained an ongoing pen-pal relationship through English and Spanish classes.

Furthermore, Colegio Internacional Alminar annually sends a delegation of students to participate in our International Emerging Leaders Conference.

Learn More:

Colegio Internacional Alminar: http://www.alminar.es/

As a school, we are committed to providing many different experiences for students so that they can learn about different cultures, develop knowledge and context for today's global issues, and build cross-cultural communication skills from an early age.